i think people are missing the point here. millions of people drink excessively. there is a whole culture of domestic abuse and general violence with it, but still alcohol does not generate the same reaction in people as crack and smack, which are in comparison nieche drugs with much smaller numbers of users. the damage done to society by alcohol massively outweighs the damage done by any other drug, but because of the irrational and downright hysterical way in which people view drugs, people cannot bring themselves to see alcohol being as serious a threat to society as hard illegal drugs.

to use the tobacco store analogy - i also do not see hundreds of opiate users cause the police and hospitals a nightmare every night, as drunk clubbers do in the uk. i do not see tens of thousands die from the effects of opiates as they do from overuse of alcohol and tobacco. yet crack and smack will get the headlines every day. this is because booze is big business for producers and government, and neither of these want us to see alcohol for the evil it is and shatter their income from it.
i do have an informed opinion on this. i'm a regular weed smoker, i occasionally take coke, crack and even smoke h now and then. i drink occasionally, but because of the damage i have seen alcohol do i avoid it more than most.

it is high time for society to classify drugs rationally and think outside the boxes put here for us by big business. we should not view alcohol as being as socially acceptable as it is. societies views on this do not come from rational analasys, they come form propaganda from the breweries and governments who are enjoying billions in tax revenues.

My reaction is partly to do with definitions of 'harm'. Yes, alcohol is harmful to society ~ so is tobacco. But they bring in cash, so are, somehow, acceptable.

The reaction to hard drugs may partly be emotional, but they can really harm certain individuals. One try at some hard drugs is more likely to harm a youngster for life than is one drunken session ~ not that I haven't seen the harm that alcohol can do.

Alcohol can make some people violent, but drunks are, I think, less likely to mug people for cash to feed their habit.

I think that there is an argument for making at least some drugs legal. Some do still need controlling though, I think.

janimal, like anything, one needs to learn moderation. No matter if the drug is booze, crack, cocaine, weed, tobacco, jimson weed, hash, mushrooms, LSD, prescription drugs or caffeine.

when the USA had prohibition, it led to bad times and crime lords. Plus, people will always find a way to get what they think they need. Do you want alcoholics to resort to drinking cough syrup?

It's not the booze; it's the people who need to learn to deal with whatever their issues are. I know sometimes i drink too much wine. I am working on my own personal moderation.

see that's the trouble. we live in a culture where one assumes if you get off one drug you have to substitute with another. that's why we give heroin addicts methadone, which is a dead end treatment. and i'm not talking about people who drink a bottle of wine too much now and then. i'm talking about people who get rocking drunk - 15 pints and a bottle of whiskey every day drunk, and kids who put away 5 litres of cider in a day. it needs to be addressed.

what i object to is the societal attitude that whilst smack, crack, weed, etc are evil, booze and fags are ok. that is what the law tells us, and it is what the unthinking masses believe to their detriment. if the government wasn't making such huge amounts of revenue from booze and fags, then maybe they would have the political will to tackle the systemic alcoholism in our society and actually address the fact that we now have 12 year olds with drink problems. our kids are drinking themselves to death and on the whole, nobody gives a toss as long as they stay off the evil drugs.

in the uk the government is so uncaring about this issue that some years ago, when several reports pointed out the levels of alcoholism in children and adults, the government responded within months by introducing 24 hour opening licenses for pubs and bars, and allowing the sale of alcopops which are quite obviously marketed with 12 to 15 year olds in mind. thanks a bunch guys.

it goes beyond even being simply hypocritical in the face of the war against drugs. they simply do not care what we are doing to ourselves as long as we pay plenty of tax. and smokers and drinkers pay more than most.

the response to alcohol is disproportionately small when compared to the witch hunts unleashed on largely harmless drugs like weed or extacy. weed only harms those predisposed to mental illness, and extacy only harms the stupid - and then only indirectly. heavy drinking will screw up anyone who goes there. the statistics show that around 60 percent of people drink on a weekly basis, whilst around 15% drink excessively. compared to that, the total consumption of illegal drugs in the uk is done by around 12% of the population; around 2% develop serious problems. go figure. the differences run into millions.

Dr Nutt et al are correct in pointing out the biggest culprit that keeps doctors in A&E busy - and makes people and families sick and languishing in despair - Alcohol.

There is a lack of recognition in administration (i.e. Govt) - very reminiscent of the attitude shown towards tobacco in past (and some might say, still shown).

An excellent example of what alcohol can do to a human being is George Best.

And, he is also the reason, why I tend not to believe my alcoholic patients 'I am not drinking anymore doctor!!'
'Really - that's good news . . . when you had your last drink?'
'Ummm Ermm Uhhh . . . this morning actually - but by God, I am not going to drink anymore - I promise!'

And, please do not blame on the genes, circumstances, low mood, companions etc etc . . . after all, a man or a woman is the master of his/her actions and no one else is.

absolutely. there has always been a distinct limit to my sympathy with addicts of any sort. in the end it comes down to willpower and self respect.

Well, it all wraps up with my *legalize it all* stance. Tax things, control them, bureaucratize them even, make them an educated choice. Get programs for help funded with the taxes taken. Use the tax money for more help counseling and better educational programs. I like how Cig money here goes towards anti-smoking campaigns and health research. And I would love to see the drug runnners watch their infrastructure crumble.

I remember listening to a lecture from Noam Chomsky, put on at Oxford, back around 2004 about this very subject. The usual subjects came up taxes, subjugation of the lower classes, slave labor and the reasons for a need in alcoholism and dependency.

Certainly since it became illegal to beat your spouse and children then the average person needs a dependable way of relieving stress. Who has time to play softball or work out anymore? Me personally >>>> I read books and build computers(I know it sounds geeky) but it makes a few $$$ on the side and keeps me up to speed with hardware and software.

I will just tell everyone my position outright. I am a boater, thus I am not rich nor am I well off, however since I am year-round boater I have tastes that I have picked up from people that have too much money. I like wine, I like Vodka(though just a little makes me want to blow-chow). We built a very large wine cellar into our house when we built in 2004. My favorite poison is Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay 2004 of which we have bought all we could find.

I have never Done any illegal drugs and neither has my wife however we have both volunteered at a drug crisis center in our small town. I would bet that 80% of the people who called/visited during our time in the center were really having trouble with alcohol. I remember that one woman called and her husband had drank so much that he was urinating blood, had potty mouth(liver and kidneys shut down) and could not move. He repeatedly told her not to call the hospital but she didn't want him to die so she waited till he passed out and then called for an ambu lance. She was so afraid of what would happen to her and her daughter when he got out of the hospital, this is where we came in. We asked the super to put her up in the safe-house until she could get the money to make the trip to Nevada where her father lives.

The last time I checked this is what freedom really was. Stripping down to my toes, covering myself in srawberry jelly, and then getting high as a kite and running down the busiest street in my hometown. We don't have that in this country now do we? YET

Alcohol and other methods of spiritual detachment have been private vacation-points for thousands of years. I say make all drugs, cigarettes, and booze legal. Legal to grow, ferment compound or whatever. At that point it won't just be profit for the top 1% anymore. The Banks wont have a monopoly on druglords and the universities will be full of American Students who actually give a crap about math and chemistry again.

In the end the strong will survive. That seems to be where our country is headed anyway. Back to the days before the Golden Rule. I just wanna see the Law of the Jungle implemented fairly for everyone, not just the rich over the poor.